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AUSMHLY

AUSMHLY

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What side is the handle suppose be on the drivers seat runner. Handle next to the door or next to the transmission?

What color are the runners suppose to be. The ones in my car are black, but the new ones I ordered from Moss came painted silver.

Seems my runners were picked by Murphy, of Murphys law. One runner set has bolts that are larger diameter than what is suppose to be. The T-nut will not screw on the 3 larger bolts on the bottom of the runner with the handle, but the top bolts that go to the seat are right size. And the free runnner has bolts on the bottom OK, but the top 3 bolts are wrong size. Trust me guys, it's not just a snug fit, they are larger bolts. I could rethread them I guess, but at $94 bucks a set, they should be correct. I wonder, am I alone on this. Anyone else run into this?
 
AUSMHLY:

For the BJ-7 the seat runner with handle is mounted on the outside next to the door. The "free" runner should be munted on the inside next to the trans tunnel. A metal shim and wooden packing strip go between the foor and each of the runners. These little packing stips are needed for a good solid seat mounting and could could be easily fabricated if missing.

The seat runners in my Healey were in such bad condition that I had them rebuilt with new bearings and floor and seat mounting bolts. As it turned out the bolts were all course thread. This didn't matter much for the seat mounts but did for the floor mounts because the new and costly T-nuts would not fit. So the T-nuts were rethreaded. A simple solution that has lasted years. Good Luck, GONZO
 
Oh now I understand...you have issues with the new seat runners from MOSS - yet another good reason for considering a rebuild for the originals. Suggest returning items to MOSS asap with detailed explanation why they didn't work.

Are your original seat runners rebuildable? GONZO
 
It seems like we all experience one simple fact when we receive our repro parts: They never fit quite right. It's been the same for me with Moss, Victoria British and AH Spares. Everything, and I mean everything, has to be cut, filed, bent, drilled or something in order to make it fit properly. Considering the fact that these parts do not come cheap, I am personally getting more than a little annoyed about this. It's one thing to charge through the nose for parts, but at least make them so that they fit.
 
Thank you Gonzo and shg. Yes shg, I feel the same way and returned them to Moss with a note asking that they check all 9 bolts with the T-nut to confirm fit before sending replacement.

Gonzo, my car is a BJ8. When I took the runners out, there were the wood packing strips, but what is this metal shim you speak of. I had only the wood. My understanding is the wood raises the seat so it will clear the carpet.

So, anyone, what color are the runners suppose to be?

Being that the drivers handle is next to the door, I still don't know which runner will go there. One handel on the runner is on the left and get pushed to the right. The other runner has a handle on the right and get pushed to the left. Which runner goes next to the drivers door?
 
From the concours guidelines:

All parts of the rails and runners were zinc-plated. On the BN1's through early BN4s, the release handle was chrome-plated, and thereafter was zinc-plated.
------
I recall the the handle push direction is towards the outside of the car. Look in the Moss catalog and the seat slides should be shown in the right orientation.

Cheers,
John
 
On my 64 BJ8, phase 1, the handles are on the outside rail, driver's side/left and passenger side/right, and the handles move to the outside when sliding seat forward or back. Color, that is a darn good question as mine are mostly rust colored. Parts that are not covered in rust appear silver/grey, but on closer examinination I think it is just the bare metal and they were not initially painted. Maybe being unpainted is why they appear so rusty, as my car has very little rust elsewhere. Unfortunately, you have now given me another project--to pull the rails out and sand them down to remove the rust. If I paint them, it would be black to match the seat structure and not to contrast with the carpet.
 
Ausmhly;RE Metal shim:
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/savewave.gif Gonzo is refering to a metal shim that goes between the wood spacer and the floor. I use one on top of the floor as well as underneath.---Keoke
 
Shorn:
John is correct the runners were zinc plated not painted.They will look ok if you paint them silver.--FWIW---Keoke
 
How thick is the shim? How long or wide is the shim? I have not seen this part avalible though Moss. Is the shim the same width and length as the wood?

Here is how I found my set-up. Metal floor, padding, carpet, wood, then runner.
 
Hi Roger,
I think the original stacking was; inside floor metal, tar paper, metal strip, wood strip, seat rail. The carpet was cutout to fit around the wood strip which lifts the seat above the carpet to give sliding room. If the carpet is sandwiched into the stack, you can't get it out for drying, cleaning, or other maintenance.

I believe the metal strip (shim) is about 1 5/8" wide, same length as the wood, & made of about .040" steel. The wood strip is about 1 1/8" wide.

As others have said, the seat slides, which have the latches, go on the outboard sides of the seats with the release toward inboard, & the handle pushes toward outboard to release. The one with the handle on the right & pushes to the left goes on the outboard side of the drivers seat.
D
 
AusmHly:
The metal shims I obtained are fabricated from fairly heavey Galvanized sheet steel. Yes they are almost mirror images of the wooden runners.The original ones I removed from my car were very rusty.Moss does not show these [Packing Pieces] shims.--FWIW---Keoke

Yep Dave that is the way it should be.---Keoke
 
You guys have been very helpfull. Thank you. Yes, I wondered why the carpet had snaps if I could not remove the carpet untill I unbolted the runners, which had the carpet under it.

I will now cut out a pattern around the wood. After I have done that, where do I cut so as to be able to remove the carpet? How many cuts, etc.
 
The metal shims (4 each) are slightly larger that the wooden spacer. Measure the outside dimensions of the wooden spacer on 16 gauge sheet metal – you could also use galvanized sheet metal to help prevent rusting. Any good hardware store would have these materials. These are exposed you may consider painting body or carpet color. GONZO
 
AsumHly,Since the carpet must be cut away under the runners.You could insert the runners through the carpet and use them as guides to mark the area to be cut out. keep it close to the runner outline and it must be open at the back edge to allow the carpet to be slid forward to remove it.Properly trimmed the carpet will have two "U" shaped slots remaining in the carpet ,but the front corners of the slots should be square. The metal shims are probably available through other suppliers----Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
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